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New cart for under 1K

I am looking to buy a new cartrdige for my setup. My current system consists of a VPI Scout II with a Black Knight platter and 10.5SE tonearm (the TT Michael Fremer demonstrated a cartridge setup at last years show in NYC), JM Focal 936's, Mac solid state power & pre, and a Dynavector P-75 phono pre-amp. The Focal's are very accurate and tend to be bright in the highs. Brightness is what I am trying to avoid. I've found the highs to be too harsh for my liking, especially with vocals. Sibilance is also an issue and something I have attempted to control with speaker placement, VTA, damping fluid, and the tone controls on my old Mac preamp. My current cart is a Grado Gold. I am hopeful that upgrading to a new cartridge helps eliminate some of the treble harshness and provides a sweeter overall sound. I'm interested in the Dynavector 20x2 so far. Any other suggestions for 1K or under, Benz, Ortofon, Sumiko (Blackbird, a little over 1K, but what the hell)?

Thanks for you assistance!
davidlillis
jjrenman
279 posts
 
Let's simplify if possible. Do you have any other sources. If so and they are also "harsh" in the highs than it is somewhere else in your system and I agree with those that you need to change out something other than your cartridge. (Probably your speakers as beryllium tweeters can be an "in your face" presentation). OTOH if other sources are merely "bright" and not "harsh" than the problem is the character of the highs not the quantity. (Probably the cartridge, Grado's are not known to be aggressive in the highs but IMO they do not have any delicacy or sweetness to the highs).

Bottom line, more input is needed.
davidlillis OP
27 posts
 
Siox/Jjrenman,

I agree with both of you, I've had difficulty coming to the conclusion that it's my speakers, but I think you are correct. The rest of my system is a McIntosh 7205 5-channel amp that I'm only using 2 channels presently. I have two pre's, a Meridian 565 which I am not using and a McIntosh C32 which is old and should be replaced. I don't think it's the Mac gear that's causing the harshness. I really think it's the speakers. The Focal's do not have beryllium, those were the BE models and were 2K additional. I have the titanium tweeter model. My old JBL's had titanium tweeters as well. I am sure of one thing, I am never buying speakers with metal tweeters again!
jjrenman
279 posts
 
Most dome tweeters have the same problem in that the top of the dome resonates at the upper end of the audio band that can add an edginess or sizzlly quality to the highs. You will notice that your tweeters have a lens covering the dome of the tweet. Usually these lens's are put in place to block as much of this extra resonate energy as possible.

If you want to try an experiment you should pick up some felt dots that are sticky on one side and try putting them on the tweeter lens. Start with one about the same size as the lens and work up from there. The idea is to increase the effectiveness of the lens without negatively affecting the tonal balance. The dots are easily removable if you do not like the effect or when you are ready to sell the speakers.

BTW you did not mention what other sources sound like? Do you have a CD or DVD hooked up to the system?
davidlillis OP
27 posts
 
Jirenman,

I love that idea! I know exactly the dots you are speaking of. I have tested the harshness in the highs with my Arcam CD-Player as well as my iPod with identical albums and the highs are as harsh. Two years ago when I got back into my vinyl collection I performed this test. This is also why I'm sure the issue resides in my speakers. I have a pair of Wharfedale 10.2's in my office. I may bring them home for a simple test. I'm going to head to my dealer to start listening to speakers so I can start narrowing down speaker selection (which is a whole other realm of exploration).
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
In Tone Audio's Issue 15, publisher Jeff Dorgay reviews the Zu/DL-103 and concludes that it hits a sonic and musical sweet spot with Dynavector P-75. At the time of writing it was his absolute favorite cart and phono stage at that price. Back then (2008) Zu offered only one version of the Zu-103. Now they have various select models at higher price points. The basic Zu-103 is still only $439.
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